Circular underwater form with lock



' Aug. 18,1970

Filed Jan. 10. 1968 s.- c..- WISWELL. J Omcuma' uunsnwnsa mm: mm LOOK 2Sheets-S'neet 1 INVE TOR ATTQRNEY Aug. 18; 1970 G. c. WISWELL. JR

cmcuua UNDERWATER FORM, wna'wcx 2 Sheet s-S'neet 2 Filed Jan. 10. 1968FIG4Z F'IG- 3 INVE TOR GtoRGL' m $1. M

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 01 fice 3,524,231 Patented Aug. 18, 19703,524,231 CIRCULAR UNDERWATER FORM WITH LOCK George C. Wiswell, Jr.,1014 Pequot Road, Southport, Conn. 06490 Filed Jan. 10, 1968, Ser. No.696,898 Int. Cl. B65d 63/00; E02d 5/60 US. Cl. 24-281 6 Claims ABSTRACTOF THE DISCLOSURE A form for applying a plastic coating to a cylindricalmarine structure wherein a sheet of pliable material is wrapped around acylindrical structure and tightened into position by a chain whichinterconnects loops on opposed sides of the contacting longitudinaledges of the sheet. A chain tightening member is detachably mounted in aloop formed on the sheet and has means for locking the chain in positionand then further tightening the chain by means of a threaded rod.

The present invention relates to a form for applying a coating to acylindrical marine structure, and more particularly, to a tighteningarrangement to position the form so that a uniform pressure is exertedby the fom on the coating.

Many forms of marine structures, such as piers, petroleum drilling orproduction platforms, or light towers, are supported upon piles driveninto the bottom. One of the common problems is to protect these pilesagainst damage from corrosion or electrolysis. The piles in the priorart have been coated, treated, and impregnated with a wide variety ofsubstances in order to eliminate or at least substantially reduce suchdamage. In addition, the piles have been covered with flexible sheets ofsynthetic plastic material of many types. It has been proposed toprotect such piles by coating them with an epoxy plastic. However,difliculties have been encountered in applying such an epoxy coating tothe pile. During the exothermic phase of the reaction of the epoxycoating, the coating must be held in place with a firm, uniformpressure.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improvedform for applying a plastic coating to a cylindrical marine structure.

Another of the objects of the present invention is to provide acylindrical form for a marine pile which can be progressively tightenedto exert the uniform firm pressure on a plastic coating applied to thepile.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a novel andimproved locking and tighening arrangement for a form intended forapplying a plastic coating to a marine pile.

In one aspect of the present invention the form may comprise a sheet ofpliable material having a pair of longitudinal edges which are incontacting or overlapping relationship when the sheet is wrapped aroundthe cylindrical or similarly shaped structure. The sheet may be providedwith a plurality of pairs of opposed loops with the loops of a pairbeing on different and same sides of the contacting longitudinal edges.A flexible strip, 'which may be in the form of a chain, detachablyconnects each pair of loops. One end of the chain is locked in one ofthe loops and the other end of the chain is passed through a tighteningarrangement which is detachably mounted in the other loop. The chain ispulled tight by hand and then locked in position and further tightenedso as to maintain a uniform pressure upon the coating applied to thesurface of the cylindrical structure.

Other objects, advantages and features of the present invention willbecome apparent upon reference to the accompanying description anddrawings, which are merely exemplary.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a. perspective view showing the 'form chain tighteners inposition;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the tightening chain showing the lockingpin on one end and the tightener device on the other end; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of the chaintightening device of FIG. 2.

Proceeding next to the drawings wherein like reference symbols indicatethe same parts throughout the various views, a specific embodiment ofthe present invention will be described in detail.

As may be seen in FIG. 1, a marine pile indicated at P has appliedthereto a form indicated generally at 10. The form 10 comprises a sheet11 of a pliable material which may be metal or other suitable materialand is wrapped around the pile P so that the longitudinal edges '12 arein overlapping relationship or contacting each other as shown in FIG. 1.

On the exterior surface of the sheet 11 and adjacent to and on oppositesides of the longitudinal edge 12 is a round loop 13 and a rectangularloop 14. The loops 13 and 14 are metallic and may be welded or brazed tothe outer surface of the sheet as shown. The pairs of loops may bepositioned in various locations with respect to the longitudinal edgessuch as the loops 13A and 14A and its cooperating circular loop which ison the other side of the sheet. By positioning a pair of loops acrosseach other, a uniform pressure can be applied to the form when assembledin position.

The pairs of loops are detachably connected by a chain tighteningarrangement indicated generally at 15 (FIG. 2) and comprising chain 16having a loop bar or pin means 17 on one end thereof and a tighteningarrangement 18 at the other end thereof. The chain is passed through acircular loop 13 (FIG. 1) so that pin 17 bears against the loop. Theother end of the chain 16 is provided with a pin 19.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the tightening device 18 comprises an anglebase portion 20 having a flange 21 which is inserted into a rectangularloop 14 and a flange 22 having cylindrical guide portion 23 thereon.Tubular member 24 is slidably mounted in guide 23 and is provided at itsouter end with a bracket 25 through which is threaded a rod 26 having ahandle or crank 27 at its outer end. The inner end 28 of threaded rod 26bears against the angle member 20.

When the chain is positioned as shown in FIG. 1, pin 19 is passedthrough the tubular member. 24 and the chain tightened by hand. The pin19 is then inserted through an appropriate link at the outer end of thetubular member 24. The chain is then further tightened by moving handle27 so that tubular member 24 is moved outwardly or to the right asviewed in FIG. 3 to bring about additional tightening of the chain. Withthis arrangement, the pressure applied by the form may be accuratelyaccomplished.

When a marine pile or similar device is to be coated with an underwaterepoxy or other resin, a plurality of such forms may be employed to coverany desired length of the pile. In this arrangement, a belly band, suchas indicated at 30 in FIG. 1, may be used to cover the joint between twoforms so as to minimize the amount of epoxy that will ooze out betweensuccessive forms. After epoxy has been applied to the pile and the formhas been placed in position, any desired pressure may be uniformlyapplied to the coating by manipulating the chain tightening device asdescribed above. This will enable the epoxy to set so as to form anoptimum coating.

If desired, the form may be precoated with a suitable parting orseparating agent so that after the epoxy has set, the form can bereadily removed and reused.

While the chain tightener disclosed has been described as particularlyapplied to an underwater form, it is apparent that this tightener deviceand the form are susceptable of numerous other applications.

Thus, it can be seen that the present invention relates to a form whichis particularly adapted for exerting a firm, uniform pressure on aplastic coating being applied to an underwater pile. The form is soconstructed that it can be quickly put in position and tightened toexert the desired pressure. Subsequently, the form can be readilyremoved and reused.

It will be understood that various details of construction andarrangement of parts can be made Without departing from the spirit ofthe invention except as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a form for applying a plastic coating to a cylindrical-like marinestructure, a sheet of pliable material having a pair of longitudinaledges, a pair of opposed loops on said sheet with said loops being ondifferent sides of said longitudinal edges, a chain detachablyconnecting said pair of loops, means on one end of said chain forconnecting said end to one of said loops, locking means on the other endof said chain, said locking means comprising a base having a portionseated in the other of said loops and a bore therethrough, said chainpassing through said bore, and a pin passed through a link of said chainto lock said chain other end in said base.

2. In a form as claimed in claim 1 with said pin being connected to saidother end of said chain.

3. In a form as claimed in claim 1 with said other loop beingrectangular and said base being an angle member with a flange thereofbeing inserted in said rectangular loop.

4. In a form as claimed in claim 1 and further comprising a tubularmember slidably mounted in said bore with said chain passing throughsaid tubular member, said pin locking said chain against one end of saidtubular member.

5. In a form as claimed in claim 4 and further comprising means on saidbase for moving said tubular member with respect to said base to tightensaid chain.

6. In a form as claimed in claim 5 with said moving means comprising athreaded rod carried by said tubular member and having one end thereofbearing against said base.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 793,194 6/1905 Hodgert 249-1829,571 8/1906 Cole 249-164 3,180,099 4/1965 Mikolajczyf et a1. 61-543,321,924 5/1967 Liddell 61-54 FOREIGN PATENTS 245,603 8/ 1947Switzerland.

DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 61-54

